Headstrong Passwords

Increase your cybersecurity by using better passwords. Download a whitepaper from THA's Center for Technology Innovation on the steps you can take create better passwords to defend your digital assets.

It’s no longer enough to invest in intrusion protection systems and network security services such as anti-virus software. Today’s hackers are going after your most important and perhaps most vulnerable asset: your employees. Through increasingly sophisticated phishing attacks, hackers are tricking people into handing over their log-in credentials, allowing them unchallenged entry into your network.

THA’s cybersecurity awareness program tests, trains and re-tests employees to reduce their vulnerability to phishing threats. It uses customized phishing emails designed to attract poorly trained computer users and provides immediate feedback in the form of online security awareness training. The initial test establishes a baseline and identifies the organization’s risk posture. Employees who fall prey to the simulated attack then receive training to improve their ability to detect and avoid such attacks. A second test sent following the training tracks the organization’s reduction in risk. In addition to educating employees and thereby lowering risk posture against cyber threats, the program helps hospitals demonstrate their compliance with required security awareness training.

THA’s cybersecurity awareness program helps you identify vulnerable employees and monitor the effectiveness of information security policies, procedures and training. Ultimately, the program helps hospitals:

Strengthen employee awareness of common and not-so-common phishing scams and how to respond appropriately;

Demonstrate that leadership is committed to providing workforce education and training on cybersecurity threats and improving compliance with such requirements; and

Mitigate the risk of a cybersecurity attack at your hospital that could cost millions of dollars in fines, claims and loss of reputation.

THA will send employees simulated phishing emails with a fake link. Employees who click on the link will be redirected to a website where they can learn about phishing emails and how to avoid falling victim to these attacks. All employees will be tested a second time at a later date to track the organization’s reduction in risk. THA will provide detailed reports of organizational performance to the designated project lead.

Performing this testing semi-annually or annually can help reinforce your organization’s commitment to a security-aware culture and to mitigating the risk of ever-evolving cybersecurity threats.

In the News

The Texas Hospital Association has helped one of its participants achieve a 70 percent improvement in anti-phishing techniques and worked with another more sophisticated provider to help pinpoint unknown weaknesses, according to THA chief digital officer Fernando Martinez.

Questions?

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The Texas Hospital Association often publishes white papers on issues affecting Texas hospitals and the health care of Texans.

Texas Medicaid in Perspective: Texas Medicaid, operated in partnership with the federal government, serves primarily low-income pregnant women and children but also individuals with disabilities and older adults. Learn More

2017 Texas Hospitals’ Policy Priorities: Hospitals also are required by federal law to provide, at a minimum, a medical screening to anyone who seeks it and to provide stabilization and treatment services for an emergency medical condition, regardless of a patient’s ability to pay. Learn more

Hospital Financing Overview: This document is intended to provide a high-level overview of the hospital financing system in Texas and the challenges that exist – challenges that threaten hospitals’ continued ability to provide the highest quality care for all Texans. Learn More

1115 Medicaid Transformation Waiver: Learn how the Transformation Waiver is making health care in Texas more effective and efficient and why renewal is so important for Texas hospitals. Learn more

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The Texas Hospital Association would like to hear from both its members and from the public for whom Texan hospitals and health systems work to keep healthy.